Tustin's parking signs lack direction

My home is near where Nisson Road meets Red Hill Avenue. For years, my neighbors and I have had to remind ourselves of the convoluted parking rules regarding street sweeping because the signs are so inaccurate and vague.

We approach our homes from Red Hill and turn left into our apartment building, never passing signs a half-block away warning of street-sweeping-related parking restrictions.

If we find we have no spaces available on "our" property, we exit onto Nisson and find four common-sense street spaces before the road narrows approaching Red Hill. That's where the sense ends.

Across the street are signs – featuring language used throughout the city – which say that no parking is allowed on "All Streets" on Monday mornings from 4 to 7a.m. "except holidays." Newcomers who follow the directives on these signs pretty dependably earn a $49 parking ticket between 7 and 11a.m.

Does "All Streets" include the opposite curb? Does "All Streets" apply to all streets in the block, the area, the entire city, or what? Apparently not.

Before all these rules were burned into my brain, I received and fought two parking tickets. Both times, I took photos of the signage and attended an appointment at the police station.

I was refunded my fine the first time because I was a resident, and it was my first offense, but the second time I should have known better than to park on a holiday which closes the courts and post offices, but the city doesn't recognize.

With so many serious stories in the news, I suppose parking regulation is at the bottom of the list for government reform. But, in many cases, this confusing system is the only interaction residents have with the city.

The city should seriously consider fixing this flawed system. It's terrible for the image of city government.

– Ray Mills is a Tustin resident. He is an interstate tour bus driver.

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